3 students injured in knife attack by peer at central Minn. elementary school

SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. - An 8-year-old boy at a Sauk Rapids elementary school came to school with a kitchen knife about 7:15 a.m. Monday, April 16, and randomly attacked fellow students, according to authorities.Three Pleasantview Elementary School s...

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Jordyn Brown / St. Cloud Times
Apr 16th 2018 - 5pm.

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SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. - An 8-year-old boy at a Sauk Rapids elementary school came to school with a kitchen knife about 7:15 a.m. Monday, April 16, and randomly attacked fellow students, according to authorities.

Three Pleasantview Elementary School students - ages 8, 9 and 13 - were cut in the incident, according to Sauk Rapids Police Chief Perry Beise.

Beise said the children had "superficial wounds to be stitched up," and nobody else was seriously injured. Two children were taken to the hospital by their parents, where they were treated and released.

The suspect was taken into custody by Sauk Rapids police, interviewed and has since been released to his parents.

Sauk Rapids borders St. Cloud on the northern edge.

Interim Superintendent Bruce Watkins said the "second-grade student entered the building, put his backpack away and pulled out a knife and struck three students."

Watkins said the incident lasted approximately five minutes before the student was stopped by "adult intervention."

Watkins declined to comment further about the 8-year-old due to student privacy rules.

Parents of children attending Pleasantview all received an electronic notice of the incident Monday morning. Watkins said classes were not interrupted, as the incident happened before school, and classes continued as usual for the rest of the day.Pleasantview has students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. There are approximately 790 students enrolled at the elementary.